July 02, 2010

FBI Investigating Possible DSHS Hacker

Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs says state health officials notified his office in early May that a hacker was holding the Texas Cancer Registry hostage and demanding a ransom.

Suehs says preliminary investigation results from the FBI indicate the threat may be a hoax, and officials with the Department of State Health Services, which oversees the cancer registry, say they don't believe the names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and personal medical information contained in it were stolen.

"This is an incident that makes everybody's antennas go a little bit higher, and I'm using it as an opportunity to elevate our awareness of our responsibility to protect information," Suehs says.

While it's common for state agencies and universities to get hit with computer viruses and other data security breaches --- there are thousands of incidents reported every month, according to state information technology records --- it's very rare for the FBI to be called in to investigate.

Lawmakers, who have left the Health and Human Services Commission's recent requests for information technology upgrades mostly unfunded, say this latest security incident leaves them with no choice but to foot the bill, even in a tougher-than-tough budget cycle.

Information technology upgrades are "a difficult thing to ask for, and it's difficult for the Legislature to prioritize," Suehs says.